Sumilon can be described like a Martin Nievera song that goes “so near, yet so far”. When I first step foot on the island, I immediately declared the island as my first love when it comes to beaches—that was before I met El Nido. So visiting Sumilon the day after my 30th birthday is like meeting an old friend and catching up like old times.
Located in Bancogon, Oslob, south of Cebu, one has to take an outrigger boat to ferry you from mainland Cebu to the island itself. Visiting Sumilon is a bit of a challenge if you are not a morning person. I live in Lapu-Lapu City and I have to wake up at 430 am to prepare for the trip and meet Kareen at 530 am at the South Bus Terminal. Originally, we want to catch the 830 am ferry ride but due to time constraints, we were able to get the 930 am schedule.
It takes 3 hours to travel from the city to Bancogon, Oslob. After we disembarked, we were warmly greeted by the staff with “maayong buntag!” (good morning, in Cebuano). Bluewater Resorts is known for its warmth, and its trademark greeting matched with a genuine smile.
We spend our Wednesday going around the island. I showed Kareen some of the island activities we can do like kayaking, fish feeding, swimming—beach and infinity pool, a short trekking trip (we dare not venture farther as we are wearing our rubber slippers. My Havaianas survived 3 Sumilon trekking trips and slips in between) and my favorite activity: lying in the hammock.
Sumilon offers island glamping (coined from “glam” from the word glamorous and “ping” well..from camping) where you camp with creatures of comfort. There used to be 2 huge Coleman tents but they downsized it to smaller ones and made it 3 tents. Construction is still on-going to improve the area. I’ve noticed there’s a separate comfort room for the glampers, which is a huge plus.
A lunch buffet spread is served for the day-trippers. In the middle of our gastronomic indulgence, a waiter delivered a plate of moist chocolate cake with a pink icing birthday greeting.
We planned to hang out at the bar after for happy hour drinks but due to drizzle, we decided to stay in Pavilion and ordered coffee to keep ourselves warm.
If Macy conquered Sagada for her hugot moments (from the movie That Thing Called Tadhana), we made our own hugot moments 3 hours away from the city on an island called Sumilon. A perfect island escape on my birthday.
